Before The Dawn Book 3: Don't Want To Be Forgotten
by Michi-chan aka Hime-Venus
Summary: This one focuses on Makoto and how she wants to leave her mark on the world in light of Minako and Ami's situation. I'VE ADDED CHAPTER THREE AFTER LIKE, FOREVER. ENJOY.
1. Chapter 1

I Don't Want To Be Forgotten

By Michi-chan

She took a long, hard look around her small apartment. There was one room, one kitchen, one bathroom, and one sitting room. Had her apartment always been so large? She tossed her books aside on the love seat and sighed as the sound echoed off the walls. It has been two weeks since both Ami and Minako went into their crystallized sleep, or so that's what Luna called it. The meeting of the remaining scouts was still fresh in her mind. It had only been yesterday though.

"It seems to me," Luna said. "That since we have entered a time of peace, the need for your sailor power is decreasing. Your powers are lying dormant within you and soon they will fade completely. Since you all need to survive for the future your bodies and your powers are putting you into a state of sleep and your bodies will be protected by your powers in a crystallized form."

"So you're saying... that Ami isn't dead?" Makoto had asked.

"No. Her soul has been dismissed but her body still lives in suspended animation."

"Her soul?" Rei looked confused.

"Yes." Luna walked across the stones of the Shinto shrine and climbed up the stairs, turned, and faced them. "Their souls have gone to a place where their deepest desires could be filled. Something their soul has wanted since their first life and maybe beyond. You see..." Luna stopped.

"Minako..." Usagi whipped her eyes. "Why would Minako want to be with Kunzite? He was our enemy, it makes no sense."

"That's not entirely true." Luna nodded her head to the tall handsome male sitting beside her, "Mamoru." H was silent for a little bit, thinking of the best way to deliver this new, and possibly startling fact.

"In the past, Kunzite and the others were my protectors. However, in the past they had relationships with the senshi. I think Kunzite and Minako's bond was the strongest and it suffered the most when the Moon Kingdom fell to ruin." Usagi stared at him in awe. "I don't know the entire story, but from what I was able to gather Minako and Kunzite were unable to experience the full of their relationship due to complications and an early death."

"And what about Ami? Where is her soul? Rei asked.

"In the water," Makoto said. The others looked at her, but she did not seem to notice. "When it started to rain... I could feel her presence. And I saw her, in the water. She was trying to talk to me but... I couldn't make it out, but I know that it was her, Ami."

"Now that we know that," Rei snapped. "But what about this whole business about Ami's mom saying that she didn't have a daughter, that she never had a child even? Explain that Luna." Luna sighed and shook her head.

"You are senshi, and your identities have to be kept a secret. Even in death your parents could never know. Their memory of you would be erased upon your departure. They would never know the pain of loosing a child. The Queen set it up that way when she sent you to the future. She didn't want anyone to suffer like she did. She knew... I went to Minako's home... Her room is a guest room now. All her possessions are gone, there is no trace of her." Luna paused and the added, "Or Artemis."

"Mako-chan, where have you been?" Mako stopped short as she entered the store. The young woman, about twenty-five years in age, greeted her. Natsuko Kiba, the daughter of Lina Kiba, worked at the little corner grocery store part-time. Lina owned the store and Makoto was a very frequent customer there.

"Oh, hi Natsuko-san." Makoto moved slowly around the small store and brought her things to check out. Everything seemed so ordinary, so simple, so fleeting. It was disturbing to know that any minute now she could disappear and no one would have any memory of her. Such was the lonely side effect of being a sailor senshi.

"Why so down Makoto-chan? Boy trouble?"

"Huh, oh, yeah."

"Well, don't you worry, I'm sure that it'll all work out. These things always do. I remember when Kenichi and I had love problems. Oh sure we would fight, but we could never stay mad for very long." Natsuko prattled on and on, spewing out sound advice; her words fell on deaf ears. Makoto's mind was elsewhere. Would Natsuko forget about her? What about Tamia-san, her landlord? Her neighbor Menori-chan? Old Gigi-san, the war veteran one floor down? All these people were a part of her life. They were all important. She didn't want to fade from their minds. She didn't want her existence to disappear at all.

"Jupiter Star Power, Make Up!" She could feel the power flowing over her naked body. It spread across her chest, down her stomach and legs to her toes. She opened up her balcony door and stepped out into the night. The streets seemed alive with the night dwellers. The lights flickered on and off and horns bellowed in the air. The sky, as dark as the deepest hole, loomed over the city like a blanket. She could hear the people laughing and living. She would not leave this world without leaving her mark first. She refused to be forgotten.


	2. Chapter 2

Before The Dawn Book 3

I Don't Want To be Forgotten

Chapter 2

By Michi-chan

"You've been quite active Makoto." Usagi was staying close to her friend. The halls seemed more lonely without Minako's cheeriness and Ami's dull chatter about facts and the teacher's lesson. They were sitting at Minako's desk, which had been emptied out completely. Not even the students remembered ever having a genius and an idol wannabe in their class.

"Oh, well. Stress." Makoto leaned back in the chair and watched Usagi for a little bit before turning her attention to the dying trees outside. Winter was coming. The trees had turned golden with the change in the seasons.

"Yeah…" Usagi looked outside too. "Wanna talk about it?"

"Talk about what?"

"Why you're stressed. We can talk about it… if you want."

"Nothing to say." They were silent. Things just hadn't been the same since Minako and Ami went to sleep. Makoto had been working every night as Sailor Jupiter, hunting down criminals of the night, doing her best to be noticed by the people of Tokyo. It was disturbing to know that they would be disappearing soon.

"Makoto… it's been months. You're so distant… Please talk to me." The students were leaving. The school day was over. It seemed even lonelier with just the two of them in the classroom. Why couldn't she shake this particular feeling? She wanted to do something grand, something big. She wanted someone to know that she had been here, that she had sat at her desk, that she had lived in that little apartment next to the flower shop, that she had existed.

"What's the point?"

"What?"

"Tell me what's the point. We came to this world to protect it, to keep it safe from all who threaten to destroy the happiness of others. Why should we disappear quietly into the night? We've done so damn much. We've sacrificed ourselves and for what? A pat on the back and fleeting memory?" Makoto frowned and closed her eyes.

"But Mako… seeing people happy… isn't that reward enough. Even though they'll forget you they'll never forget the feelings they have because you had once been there." Usagi leaned back on the desk and closed her eyes in thought. "We've changed the lives of hundreds, and if we were to fade right now… their lives wouldn't go back to the way they were. The healthy won't go back to being sick, and the lives we saved won't flee from them."

"You're so optimistic Usagi." Mako narrowed her eyes and stood. Usagi sat up and looked at her friend with confusion.

"Mako..."

"You always try to see the good side of things…" Makoto picked up her school bag. "And it pisses me off." Usagi just stared as Mako left her alone in the classroom. She didn't know what to say. Mako was hurting. For someone who had always been alone Minako, and Ami were the closest to her, and they meant everything to Mako. Usagi knew this, and it pained her heart that she couldn't comfort Mako like Ami or Minako could.

Tears began to fall, but Usagi did nothing to stop them. It was now that she realized how isolated she was from the others. Minako was close to Rei and Mako. Mako and Ami were like sisters. And the only person Usagi had was… Usagi sat on the edge of the desk and cried. Cried because she missed her friends. She cried because she felt so pathetic, helpless, and alone. She cried… because she wanted a second chance.

I think I'm going to end this chapter here. Sorry it's so dang on short, but I really wanted to get this out and about, ya know. If you've read any of my past works, you'll know how hard it is for me to write Sailor Jupiter segments. It's just that I don't find her as deep. But If I were to cut her out I would get a personalized hate letter every day. Anyway, I'm not going to stretch out this "book" any longer than need be, but I'm not going to make it crappy either. So give me a few more days/weeks to develop her story a little more. Thanks.


	3. Chapter 3

Before The Dawn Book 3

Before The Dawn Book 3

I Don't Want To Be Forgotten

Chapter 3

By Michi-chan

Week three, and Makoto was confused. People talked about her everywhere she went. Two middle schoolers chatted about her heroic deeds on the train, two house wives relayed a recent battle she had with a band of bank robbers, hell, even little boys praised her efforts instead of calling her a silly girl. Sailor Jupiter was slowly becoming the best thing since sliced bread. There was no way that she could disappear from the world without at least one person knowing. So why wasn't she any happier? Why wasn't she more pleased with her accomplishments?

"Makoto, there you are." Makoto was pulled from her thoughts when she heard Natsuko's voice as she walked into the store. She didn't need anything, she just automatically went there. Habit?

"What's up Natsuko?"

"It's mother." She was frantic as she moved from behind the counter and started to pull off her apron. She shoved the garment into Makoto's hand as she tried to explain the situation in more detail.

"Lina-san?"

"She, she collapsed on the street. She's in the hospital now and I have to go to her. Please, can you just watch the store for a little while? I'll be back before closing time, I promise." Makoto must have nodded because in the blink of an eye, Natsuko was gone. Makoto stared after the door that was still swinging close. Originally she had planned to transform and go patrolling. It was almost dark since the change of seasons. But the thrill of the fight was gone, and so was her tolerance for it. Maybe she was going about it all wrong. Maybe she should just stop now.

Behind the store counter with nothing but her thoughts, she reflected on her life, the meaning of her being a senshi. They spent so much time fighting the dark forces that threatened the earth and protecting the princess that would soon become the queen of Neo Tokyo. They sacrificed any dreams of having a normal life. They gave it all up to fighting, but they could not die in battle. They had to live on. So, was it right for them to just go quietly into the night? No, it was wrong. They were mice in a maze of hardships and disasters and they deserved some cheese at the end of their journey.

"So what do you want?" Makoto looked up and saw sailor Jupiter standing before her, hands on hips, waiting for an answer.

"I don't know what I want," Makoto said.

"How can you not?" Jupiter asked.

"I don't know." Makoto whispered. Jupiter disappeared from her sight only to reappear behind her. Gloved hands came around Makoto's shoulders and held the young woman tightly. No breath came from her lips as she whispered into Makoto's ear.

"Yes you do, but you don't want to say it, do you?"

"No…"

"Show me that dark side you have." Jupiter smiled. Outside it started to rain, hard. Fat droplets pounded on the rooftop and lighting illuminated the sky as it ran across the darkness. Jupiter faded with the light and came back once the store become dark again.

"My dark side," Makoto whispered.

"You want people to remember you, but as who? As Jupiter or as Makoto?" Jupiter smiled. A transparent gloved hand mover over Makoto's heart. It melted past the skin and stroked the heart.

"Makoto, the greatest…" Thunder drowned out the words, but Makoto knew them. She needed no repeats.

"The greatest…"

"Mako-chan." Natsuko stood at the door, dripping wet. Makoto watched her silently. "I didn't know it was going to rain. Sorry I'm so late. Thanks for staying, but why are you sitting here in the dark? People will think we're closed already."

Makoto sat in silence. She squeezed her hand. Once. Twice. Three times. There it was. She had it now. She just need to wait. Yes. Makoto counted the seconds.

"Mom's alright. She works so much, I'm always scolding her." Natsuko laugh. "Funny how the roles are switched now that she's old." Natsuko moved behind the counter. She saw Makoto's balled up fist.

"What's wrong?" Natsuko asked. She listen to the mutters. "Why?"

"I want… to be remembered… as the greatest…" Natsuko's eyes widened. She stumbled back, falling over a stool. She scrambled, but she was too slow. Lighting struck and the thunder rumbled, blocking the scream.

Lightning.

Makoto stood over Natsuko. She only had a little time. She could feel her body becoming light. When Natsuko wakes she will have no recollection of the girl that shop-sat for her.

But that was alright. Because Makoto had taken her sweet time carving her name onto Natsuko's arms. Every time Natsuko saw her arms, she would see the name. She would see that name and either remember or she would remember that pain and fear the name that had no face.


End file.
